Jan 2 Strathpeffer Village Council. New Year walk from the Station Square Dingwall to Strathpeffer Square. Starting 10.30. A warm welcome is given to all competitors young and old, boy or girl, man or woman. Handsome prizes. Come and put your best foot forward into 1969.

Mar 28/29 Come and enjoy the last appearance of The Sterling Showband at the Pavilion. The band has been engaged by one of Ireland’s top agents and is to appear under a new name GALAXY.

Apr 4/5 The fabulous showband from Derry 7/6

Peter Boy and the Trend 6/-

Apr 11/12 Peter Boy and the Trend

Apr 18/19 Peter Boy and the Trend

Apr 25/26 Peter Boy and the Trend

May 2/3 Peter Boy and the Trend

May 9/10 The Galaxy (formerly the Sterling Showband)

May 16/17 The Galaxy

May 23/24 The Galaxy

May 30/31 Memphis Showband

The Tuesday Show was started by Bob Hunter in June 1969 and ran for five successful seasons

until 1973.

It was designed to complement the long running Highland Cabaret by giving visitors and locals a

different type of entertainment. The compère was Jock Watt and each week he introduced the

following artistes who appeared on a regular basis. Bill Webster was the featured male singer and

sang songs from shows like the Sound of Music and Oklahoma.

Christine Fraser was the featured lady singer and she drew many compliments for her singing of

Old Time and Music Hall numbers. The accompanist was Bill Beaton, who, along with Bob Hunter,

provided music for the artistes with Bob himself featuring in a tribute spot to Louis Armstrong.

Bill Webster Christine Fraser

The Melotones did a very good spot each week on the show, the highlight of which was ‘Fergie’s Blues’

played by Fergie Brown on trumpet. If memory serves me well he played one note which he held for a

full 24 bars and always drew enthusiastic applause from the audience, which recognised the

achievement of such a feat. Once when he was asked “Oh Mr Brown, how do you hold that note?” he

replied “I drink as many drams as I can and I smoke as much as I can!”

There were no dancers in the show. Instead the audience themselves got the chance to dance after

the show when the Melotones provided half an hour of dance music, which included an elimination

waltz, Bob was always looking for ideas to present to the audience and one of these was based on a

radio show which was popular during WW2. It was called “I want to be an actor” and it invited members

of the audience taking part in a melodrama. At the Tuesday Show they used a 2 page script which featured

a hero, a heroine and a villain. There were 3 volunteers for each part and for a test run each person

said a line and made a noise. After the real thing the audience judged the participants and the winning

‘actor’ got a bottle of champagne. When the feature was firmly established Iain R. Thomson (of “Isolation

Shepherd” fame) wrote a new script featuring heather sandwiches and the Loch Ness Monster! On the occasions when a member of the audience wasreluctant to participate the couriers would gamely volunteer.

Bill and Bobby Bob Hunter

In 1973 there was a change of personnel when Bobby Hepburn took over as compère from

Strathpeffer. Shearings, who had taken over the running of the hotel deemed them too expensive

(hotly disputed by Bob) and so they disbanded.

June 6/5 Memphis Showband from Southern Ireland along with a girl vocalist

June 13/14 The Freedom Fighters (one of Ireland’s top showbands)

June 20/21 The Paragon 7

June 27/28 The Emperors from Southern Ireland

July 4/5 The Emerald Showband

July 11/12 The Echo’s Showband

July 18/19 the playboys.

New style of advert with arrow and lower case

July 25/26 the freedom fighters.

Ireland’s top recording stars and Silver Disc award winners. Record sales now top 4½ million.

July 26 Dingwall Fire Brigade Club in the Town Hall Dingwall

The Foundations and My Dear Watson 8.00-10.30

8/- in advance 10/- on the night

Aug 1/2 the for sale

The For Sale is a pop outfit specialising in Beach Boys and Four Seasons material. The boys have been playing for 2 years and have recently returned from a very successful tour of Germany. They leave shortly for Morocco and the South of France where their manager has arranged several appearances at top-class clubs. Since the boys returned from Germany they have played extensively in both the North and South of Ireland.

Aug 8/9 the college boys

2 years ago Ronnie Parks, Joe Campbell, Gerry Martin, Joe McGreevy, Lindsay Luney and Wills McKinney were regarded as the heads of the various showbands they played for, having all acted as session men for several top Irish recording showbands. These 6 talented instrumentalists formed the College Boys 2 years ago and since then have had no less than 3 records in the Irish Top Ten, have made many radio broadcasts (On Radio One Club, Mon 21st July, playing from 12 noon – 2p.m.), appeared on UTV Zoom-in series and several other television spots. Although the band is 6 in number they all double on instruments, their brass line-up tenor sax, trombone and trumpet. The College Boys are making their first appearance tonight and tomorrow and will undoubtedly prove to be the best Irish showband ever to tour Scotland.

Aug 15/16 the big timers

Aug 22/23 the green angels

Aug 29/30 peter boy and the trend

Sept 5/6 peter boy and the trend

Sept 12/13 Peter Boy and the Trend

New style advert – couples dancing

Sept 19/20 Peter Boy and the Trend

Sept 26/27 Peter Boy and the Trend

Oct 3/4 By popular request the return of the Galaxy (formerly the Sterling Showband). Due to increase in band and transport costs admission as from Friday will be 8/6

Oct 10/11 The Galaxy 8/6 and 6/-

Oct 17/18 The Galaxy

Oct 24/25 The Galaxy

Oct 31/Nov 1 The Galaxy

Nov 7/8 The Galaxy

Nov 12 Scottish Society for Mentally Handicapped Children Dingwall and District Branch

guitar, organ (Farfisa) and vocals. There is no known photo of the band. (See entry in Guestbook).

Dec 5/6 The New Denver

Dec 12/13 The Sundowners

Dec 19/20 First time in Scotland the sensational

Heather and the Pines

The management wish to apologise to their patrons for last Friday’s band turning up late, but unfortunately it was outside their control due to adverse weather conditions. We hope you will enjoy your dancing over the festive season.